


When love isn't enough

by Celia25



Series: Timing [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Divorce, F/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-24 12:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15630696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celia25/pseuds/Celia25
Summary: Can two people in love endure difficult circumstances that might jeopardize their relationship? Will their love be enough to get through it? Find out how this develops for Robin and Regina.This story is set in 'Timing' verse while they are still married.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 1 OQ Angst Fest 2018  
> Prompts used: N° 3: I thought you loved me; N° 25: Are you even listening to me?; N° 29: I didn't mean it like that, and you know it; N° 31: It's like I don't know you anymore; N° 50: I said I love you, and I meant it.
> 
> Angsty, so if you want to get the happy ending just take a look at 'Timing'.
> 
> Special thanks to the amazing @QueenOfTheMM for editing this!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! And let me know what you think.

Regina Mills has a time bomb ticking inside her …one that’s about to explode at any moment and would lead to life-changing decisions for her husband, her children and herself.

\----

It has been a long time since Regina felt whole, complete …and, well, yes, happy. The way she’s been feeling during the last months isn’t because she doesn’t love her family. She loves Robin and each of her children with all her heart and soul, and there’s nothing she won’t do for them. So, this isn’t about lack of love.

It’s about her relationship with herself. It’s about the choices she once made and how things turned out to be for her.

For some time now Regina has been in a bad mood, complaining more often than not about her daily routine, and maybe it’s because her life has become just that, a routine, a series of activities she performs on a day-to-day basis without much thinking. Every day, when she wakes up she knows the day will be just the same as the day before or even the week before, and there’ll be no room for any surprise or last minute plans that would add a little spice to her life.

Each day in her life has become so predictable …and busy, with no time left to engage in any activity just for her enjoyment or personal satisfaction or to finally re-start her career as a lawyer. It’s always the same: get up, prepare breakfast, lunch boxes, wake up the kids, drive them to school, do some cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, pick up the children from school (sometimes at different times because the three of them have various needs, activities, and schedules), supervise homework, rush the children for bath time and dinner, and check they all go to bed by 9:00 pm, herself included, because by that time she is exhausted.

The feeling that there’s something missing has been with her for months and she has understood for a while that what’s standing in the way of her happiness is the sense of being stuck in the same place, unable to move on from where she is, the impression that there is something unfinished, incomplete in her life. And it just so happens she is very well aware of what’s missing: her professional fulfillment.

She dreamt all her life about having a career, of becoming a lawyer, of representing her clients in court, of winning cases and bringing people justice. But she never had the opportunity because as soon as she finished law school and obtained her first job, she found out she was pregnant, got married, and had to quit her job to take care of her baby. Her plans to return to work never happened, because she got pregnant with her second and third child, really quick.

Eleven years have passed since the first time she made a choice between her family and her career, and she is now a 34 years woman married to a successful engineer and mom of three beautiful children, Lila, Henry, and Roland, but unsatisfied with what her life has become.

She has worked on herself and on the emotions that don’t allow her to be happy for some time now, and she knows this discontent doesn’t come from any regrets for having chosen, at some point, her family over her career because not once she has thought about how her life would have been without them. This dissatisfaction is a result of her remorse for having thought she needed to make a choice, and after all this time she is certain she would have found a way to have both, her family and her career. The fact that she opted for one over the other is killing her.

Thoughts of the choice she once made come from time to time to fill her mind with hundreds of _what ifs_ about how her life would have been if she hadn’t quit her job when Lila, her daughter, was born. She tortures herself thinking in all the scenarios her life could have turned out to be.

However, and since Regina Mills doesn’t do things halfway, it doesn’t make any difference that being a full day (and night) mom isn’t what she wanted for her life. She commits with all her heart and soul to her job, taking care of her children with absolute dedication and making sure they realize that they are loved and taken care of. She is proud of everything they do, it doesn’t matter if it’s a minor fulfillment or the most significant achievement. She reassures and supports them, voicing how well they’ve done and how proud their parents are. So, she can say she’s doing her job right!

She doesn’t want her children to suffer the way she did, as a child, with her mother, trying to be the perfect daughter and hearing her mother complaining about how she could have done things better. For her mother, it was never enough …well, to be honest, as an adult, she, still, has to endure the cruel remarks her mother constantly makes regarding her life choices, but, at least, now she has better resources to deal with it.

\----

Marriage is about two people, and if one isn’t happy, everything the other does is pointless. So, Regina and Robin’s marriage is paying the price of Regina’s feelings of emptiness and unhappiness.

They’ve been married for eleven years now, and Regina knows very well that she is in love with her husband. She is sure about Robin’s feelings towards her; she is certain Robin loves her madly, and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to make her happy. But, also, Regina is very much aware that it’s not about what her husband can do to make her happy …this is entirely about what she can do.

She knows the spark is still there, even though it hasn’t been lit lately in the bedroom. And, in fact, Regina can’t remember the last time she had sex with her husband. Six months ago? Maybe more?

Initially, she wasn’t concerned about her diminished or, more accurately, non-existent sexual drive. The good Dr. Hooper, a therapist she has known since Roland, the youngest of her children, was born and had helped her with some issues, had assured her that the lack of sexual desire is a phase in some marriages. Moreover, when there are three kids to take care of, mostly by herself, because her husband is away half of the week supervising construction projects his company develops in other cities.

She finishes most of her days exhausted, and it’s not that Lila, Henry and Roland are babies that she still has those sleepless nights because she doesn’t. But the logistics to provide each of them of regular, extracurricular and recreational activities, special needs sessions and medical appointments, plus taking care of the house by herself, is draining her energy.

So, after hearing Dr. Hooper she thought this stage would be over, and that in a brief time she and Robin could retake their sexual life. However, it hasn’t worked that way, and she knows it’s because of the way they’ve been interacting as a couple.

Things have been tough between Robin and Regina since last year. She has a bad temper and has been irritable towards her husband. It seems everything Robin does, bothers her. When he offers help she minimizes his efforts; and, any time she can, she points out how he misses some of the children’s achievements because of his frequent business trips. And Robin is a patient man, but he’s not a saint either, so he’s not tolerating very well Regina’s temper. Therefore, the Locksley’s home has been filled more often than not with acrimony, reproaches, complaints and intolerance, and that’s exactly the reason why their sex life is nonexistent for some time now. For Regina sex is something she gives in completely with her heart, soul, and body; and, if she and Robin are not doing well because she’s unhappy, she can’t engage in sex. It doesn’t matter if it is with her husband.

\-----

And, as if things weren’t bad enough in the bedroom, she is tired of listening to other people’s success stories when she’s just a housewife, not by choice, but because of bad timing. If it had been the one life she’d wanted for her, it would have been different, she would not have the constant feeling that there’s something unfinished in her life, something that she needs to feel whole again.

Regina has no problem with the fact that some women seek their happiness and find their sense in life, by raising their children and being full-time moms, and these women have her utmost respect. She knows it’s not an easy job! But this is not her case, she always wanted the complete cake, and she knows she only got half of it, and needs to go for the missing half.

Regina has witnessed her friends forge their professional paths, and, in one way or another, are already successful and recognized professionals in their fields of practice.

And Robin, her husband, a civil engineer specialized in structural engineering, owns a company in association with John, one of his best friends and an engineer as well, where he develops complex construction projects and has built a reputation that has granted him to be one of the most sought after engineers in the field. His clients don’t dare to put a brick if Robin hasn’t made the calculations and doesn’t supervise the whole construction process.

Regina is happy about her husband and friends’ professional success. She truly is. She knows all of them worked their asses off for their careers and sacrificed at a certain level their personal lives. She knows some of them have other issues she even doesn’t have to worry about. Emma, for instance, thinks she is too old to have her own child, and Mary Margaret keeps torturing herself trying to find the one, her true love, and tells Regina how lucky she is for having found Robin every chance she gets.

But other people’s feelings of emptiness don’t make things easier for her because, at the end of the day, Regina still thinks they all made the right choices, and she didn’t. Her friend’s success stories are a reminder of what she could have had.

And that’s precisely why Regina has been avoiding her friends recently. She can’t bear listening, one more time, how Emma got her job at the District Attorney’s Office; or hear to Mary Margaret’s complaints about her hard work as vice-principal of one of the most recognized (and expensive) private schools; or if Ruby should accept the offer she has received to franchise “Granny’s” to other cities.

Discontent, unhappiness, regret, boredom, exhaustion, sexual frustration, guilt ….the perfect storm is coming.

* * *

 

“Robin, not today. I’m …I’m not in the mood” says Regina pulling up the straps of her nightgown as soon as Robin finishes pulling them down “Tomorrow I’ll have to be up early. Roland has karate class at 9:00am and I’ll have to drive him all the way to the class…”

“You could just make him skip tomorrow’s class” replies Robin as he kisses Regina’s bare shoulder.

“I can’t. You weren’t there when Dr. Ashley said it was important that Roland doesn’t skip any class …It helps him focus better in school, you know …I’m the one struggling to have his homework done.”

Robin looks away, takes a deep breath and adds “You’re never in the mood, Regina. Not anymore .” He takes Regina’s chin with his fingers, lifting it slowly so that she has to look at him “Look at me, Regina. What is this about? I’m not stupid. Last week the excuse was Lila’s dentist appointment; and, before that Henry’s writing workshop; and the previous week, that you were wrapping some present for a birthday party. There’s always an excuse for not having sex. Are you rejecting me? Because that’s exactly how it feels.”

“It’s nothing, Robin. I’m …I’m just tired. I don’t have a single day off for God’s sake! Can’t you understand that?”

“This is bullshit, Regina! You are so different. You are constantly complaining about the house, the kids, about how much you do and how little I help. It’s like I don’t even know you anymore. You used to be carefree and not make an issue about everything!” answers Robin as he takes away the sheets to get out of bed.

Regina just follows Robin’s movements with her eyes and waits some seconds before she answers “Haven’t you thought that maybe it might be that I’m no longer the person you married? Haven’t you even once stopped to think about how do I feel? That perhaps I wanted that my life would have been different and that it might be I’m not happy.”

“What do you mean, Regina? Aren’t you happy? Is this about us? Don’t you love me anymore?” Robin asks, turning to look at Regina, only to find her sitting on the bed with teary eyes and staring nowhere.

Regina doesn’t answer. She takes her time. She didn’t mean having this conversation with Robin in that precise moment; in fact, she never thought to open up to him with these issues. She doesn’t want to hurt him, but she mentioned she wanted something else in her life, and is certain Robin won’t drop the subject without addressing it.

“Regina, are you even listening to me? You can’t just say that you wished your life were different and pretend you said nothing.”

“Robin, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it. I …I don’t know. I know I love you and the children. You are the most important things in my life…” she finally answers, yet she hears Robin interrupting her before she can finish the sentence “But? ...but what Regina?”

Here it goes.

“I …I feel incomplete. It’s difficult to explain.”

“Incomplete? I …I don’t understand, Regina. Don’t I make you happy?” asks Robin again, sitting on the bed by her side and holding his head with his hands. He doesn’t want her to look at him. She knows that.

Regina takes Robin hands in hers, tries to catch his gaze, but he doesn’t look at her. She begins speaking slowly as if trying to make sure he doesn’t miss a word she says “Yes, Robin, you do. And that’s exactly the point because this is about me and what have I done to make myself happy, and I haven’t done shit. I …I think I might need some space, I need to work some issues…”

Robin abruptly gets up from the bed; he looks at her and his eyes can’t hide his fear, shock and hurt for what she just told him.

“Don’t fuck with me, Regina! What are we? High school sweethearts? Don’t come to me with the _I need space_ shit. After eleven, ELEVEN years married, Regina, you tell me out of nowhere that you need space? Which issues you need to work on, that I can’t work with you?”

Robin has raised his voice and just after he finishes talking they hear through the door Roland’s voice asking “Mom, Dad what’s happening? Is everything okay?”

She looks at Robin, puts her finger on her mouth telling him to be silent. They don’t need to frighten the kids. She opens the door and takes Roland in her arms whispering to him “Everything is fine, Roland. Your daddy and I just had some different opinion over some grown-up stuff,” and as soon as she finishes she feels Robin’s hand on her shoulder and hears him say “Yes, buddy. Everything’s okay. Go to bed and sorry if we woke you up.”

They both keep standing by the door of their bedroom watching their seven-year-old son walk to his, with sloppy sleepy steps, carrying in one hand his stuffed monkey. As soon as he gets into his bedroom, Robin and Regina step into theirs and shut the door.

Regina looks at Robin and begins to talk “Robin, I …I’m sorry.”

“Do you care to explain, Regina? I thought you loved me.”

“I said I love you, and I meant it. Please, don’t’ doubt me on this, Robin …and …uhm …I …I didn’t mean to sound as if I don’t want you or the children in my life …I …I don’t know what’s happening to me ….I’m …I’m so tired of everything being the same for me.”

“Come here babe; we’ll get over this …whatever’s bothering you, we’ll deal with it together,” says Robin as he takes Regina in his arms and holds her.

\------

Robin tries and tries hard.

However, everything he does so Regina can feel less overwhelmed doesn’t seem to work. He is a patient man; he loves his wife. He does, but everything has its limits, even his love for his wife, and he’s about to discover it.

It’s been already almost a month since Regina dropped a bomb with her unhappiness and needing some space issues, and still, they haven’t talked openly about it. It’s just a topic they don’t discuss, even though Robin has taken matters into his own hands waiting for the right time.

Robin decides he won’t be going away on any business trip for a while and asks John to go in his behalf, at least, until he can sort out things with Regina.

He spends more time at home helping Regina with the routine chores and with the children, yet for Regina, it seems he repeatedly leaves behind something halfway through.

He encourages Regina several times to take some time for herself, and it appears it does more harm than good because those times Regina took lunch with some of her friends, she returned home in a bad mood, grumpy and definitely upset about something.

Robin tries to retrieve what they once had, so he takes her out for dinner more often, and it seems they both enjoy those moments. He tries to do his best and arranges an elegant suite for the weekend, outside the city, to surprise Regina, thinking something different from her daily routine would add some spice and maybe they would reconnect in the intimate level. He wants to surprise her, show her that she is the most significant person in his life, and that he will not cease in his efforts to make her feel happy, wanted and loved.

Robin even takes care of all the arrangements so that they could spend the weekend away from the kids, but the one surprised is him when Regina turns down his plans because apparently he didn’t notice it was during Talent Show weekend and Lila and Henry will perform on both Friday and Saturday nights. So not only does Regina dismisses Robin’s efforts, she overreacts, getting furious at him because he didn’t check in advance the dates with her, and his good intentions finish in a bitter argument.

Everything falls apart from that point on. One month receiving one blow after another is too much for Robin. He’s only a human after all.

Robin is hurt, terribly hurt. He resents and shuts down, and the worst part is he feels Regina doesn’t mind at all or maybe doesn’t even realize how in pain he is.

But, life goes on. Robin has work to do; he can’t just throw away opportunities with potential clients that would benefit his family, and he decides to retake his business trips thinking that Regina might really need some space and maybe the two or three days a week he is away can provide her the space she’s urgently claiming for.

Robin doesn’t imagine that those circumstances are, on the contrary, a breeding ground for Regina’s breakdown …or his own.

Their marriage has become a house of cards. One word out of place, one wrong move, one single misunderstanding and it will collapse …and they both will find out this will happen sooner than they think.

* * *

 

**_TO BE CONTINUED..._ **

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Find out how Robin and Regina decide to sort out the issues that have been affecting their marriage for some time. Will the choice they make be their biggest mistake or they'll get through it stronger than ever?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Day 2 OQ Anst Fest 2018  
> Prompts used: N° 7: I never meant to hurt you; N° 30: You want a divorce?  
> Special thanks to @Queen OfTheMM for editing!  
> Please, let me know what you think. Reviews are always appreciated.

For some weeks life is just the same as it was during the previous months: Robin, alternating between work in other cities and days at home with his wife and children. Regina, taking care of the kids and the house.

Robin and Regina try. Each in their own way and with what they think it’s the best. So, when Robin asks Regina if she wants to go to John’s birthday party, she agrees …and that will be the last straw. There will be no turning back.

\-----

“Regina, what happened? Tonight something was off with you at John’s party. You barely spoke or smiled at our friends and not even engaged once in a conversation with any of them. You’re shutting down everyone who cares about you. You know, these people aren’t the ones to blame for your issues,” says Robin as he drives home from John’s birthday party.

Bad move.

“Robin, I don’t want to talk about it. I just wasn’t in the mood…” begins answering Regina.

“You’re never in the mood for anything, Regina. Not for sex. Not to go out with me. Not even to talk to your friends. You know, I’ve tried to be by your side, to make you feel better and you just don’t let me in. I’m tired, Regina.”

Another bad move and one that Regina won’t ignore.

“You’ve been by my side? For how long? One month, five, maybe, six weeks? And what about before, Robin? Where were you when Lila broke an arm and I had to rush to the hospital and had no one to look after Henry and Roland? Or when Roland suffered from that fever and was puking his guts out, and I had to call an ambulance in the middle of the night to take him to the hospital? Or when Dr. Ashley diagnosed Roland with ADHD and I felt the world falling apart? Or each time I had an appointment at school because of Roland’s behavior? Where were you when Henry had his appendix removed and was afraid of surgery? It seems I’ve been on my own more time than you can remember, so please don’t you dare to go there!”

Shit!

Robin is angry and hurt. He regrets having missed important moments in his wife and children’s life when they definitely have needed him, and Regina’s words feel like a low blow.

“Don’t be cruel, Regina! Where was I? I was working my ass off to provide for you and the children, to pay for the mortgage on the house we live in. You wanted a big house in a nice area …well, it happens it’s insanely expensive. And, what about the children’s activities and other needs? Tennis, ballet, karate, music lessons, Dr. Ashley, Dr. Hooper, the insurance, the cars, the summer camps …shit Regina, someone has to pay those bills, and I do it happily but don’t you dare throw this back in my face!”

Robin’s words shock Regina in the worst way. Besides being the truth, those words hit her where it hurts the most.

“What do you mean with this? That I am a burden for you? Because one thing I do assure you, this is not the life I wanted, Robin.”

Robin turns to look at her and continues “So, this is about the other day. Your unhappy, incomplete and miserable life.”

“That’s exactly the point. It seems you just figured it out. Congratulations.”

It appears this conversation is bringing the worst of each other, and none of them will cease to stop hurting the other one.

“Well, I’m sorry if our marriage wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be. And let me tell you, it is the same for me, Regina. Do you think I’m happy being away from my family half the time? Do you think I feel complete and satisfied with our marriage? A marriage in which I’m incapable to wake up any desire in my wife so that we can have a normal sex life. Do you think that’s what I wanted my life to be? Or that I have to witness how you shut down from the world? Well, I never pictured our common life to turn out to be like that!”

“But do you know, Regina, what the difference is between you and me?” asks Robin as he continues driving turning to look at her. “The difference, Regina, is that I am very much aware this is the real life, this isn’t a fucking fairy tale, like the ones that fill the head of little girls living in a bubble, and that expect marriage to be about perfect husbands and wives with perfect children. Welcome to real life, Regina, where marriage is about real shit also: lack of money, responsibilities, tough choices, sickness, sacrifice, and three children with their own issues, and one of them that needs a lot of support to go through school. So, I’m really sorry if you feel miserable. This isn’t about you anymore, it’s about five people. And when kids are part of the equation it doesn’t really matter what you or I want. It’s about what it’s better for them. I tried giving you everything to make you happy with the best of my abilities. I guess I failed.”

Regina listens in absolute astonishment, and tears begin to fall because she knows what Robin says is true …that’s exactly why it took so long to recognize what was happening to her. She just woke up every day, put her issues aside, and continued with her life ….until one day she just couldn’t do it anymore.

“You are right in everything you just said, Robin. I have lived with it each day of the past eleven years so, please, don’t you fucking lecture me about marriage,” says Regina. She speaks calmly, even though Robin knows she’s crying and that she must be furious because he knows it infuriates her when he uses her name repeatedly in an argument, just as he did intentionally. She doesn’t look at Robin, she continues staring through the window of the passenger seat, and then she says the words that would change everything.

“Maybe I …I’m not sure if I want to be married anymore, Robin.”

Robin suddenly feels nauseous and he is sure that if he were standing his knees would have bent, and he would be lying on the floor. He needs to stop the car; he can’t even press the brake pedal, but he manages to park on one side of the street.

“Are you fucking kidding me? What do you mean? Do you want a divorce?”

Regina is crying, looking at the lights of the cars passing by in the street as she starts talking between sobs “I …I don’t know if I want a divorce, but …uhm …I …I do need some space. I told you that already .”

Regina makes a bold move and takes one of Robin’s hands in hers, but Robin takes it away quickly “You’ve got a nerve, don’t you Regina? Don’t play with me. It’s the only thing I ask from you. You know how I feel about you, don’t take advantage of it .”

“Robin, please, just let’s stop hurting each other. I’m not playing with you. I would never do that. You might not realize this right now, but I’m asking this because I love you. I still do...” Regina is about to continue, but she hears Robin say “You have a peculiar way of showing your love, Regina .” “Robin, this is not because of lack of love, or because my feelings for you have changed and least of all because of someone else. You are a good man, an excellent father …and Robin despite what I said before you’ve been a good husband and partner. You deserve someone that can commit fully in all that marriage implies, and I’m not sure if I can give that to you right now. I need some time to re-examine my life, and once I’ve sorted out my own issues and can be happy again with myself, maybe we still can have a chance. How can I make you happy, if I’m not happy with who I am? That’s a question I ask myself each night when I go to bed and look at you, and it kills me.”

Robin has been looking anywhere but at Regina. However, as soon as she finishes talking, he turns around and catches her gaze. Her eyes say more than what her words just said; they show relief, guilt, and sorrow, they beg for understanding, they claim for forgiveness, but what surprises him most is that he still can see in them affection, care, tenderness, and, yes, love.

In that precise moment Robin realizes what Regina has been through all this time, and decides he’ll do everything possible to give her peace and happiness …and then he understands that he’ll even do the impossible because he will let her go, if that’s what she needs to feel complete, happy and satisfied with her life.

With those thoughts in his mind, he only answers “I wasn’t expecting any of this, Regina. We’ll have a lot to talk. Let’s go home .”

And with those words, they continue their way home in complete silence.

* * *

 

They don’t rush things. On the contrary, take their time to discuss each of the choices they are about to make over and over again during the days that follow.

It appears the heartbreaking argument they had after John’s party, and the way they had exposed some issues both of them would have preferred to remain unsaid, in some way, has helped them retrieve the communication they once had.

However, the damage has already been done, and they have reached a point of no return.

Robin blames himself for not noticing Regina’s issues before and for continuing pushing her until it was too late. He is devastated for failing to give her the life she deserved and has already promised to make it up to her and to make her feel happy and fulfilled with her life.

Regina, on her side, feels guilt and remorse for being the one tearing apart her family. She identifies hurt and pain in Robin’s eyes most of the time, and she knows she is the one responsible for that grieve . Hence, they both commit to making this process the least painful to the other one, although they know there’s no way of getting through this unharmed.

They don’t leave a topic unaddressed, regardless of the heartbreak some of them bring them.

There’s no lawyer representing any of them, nor any other people involved. There’s no process for a legal separation yet, least of all for a divorce. They firmly believe they owe themselves a civil and friendly separation, without including other people that might make the whole process more difficult and, even, bring up intimate issues none of them want to address in front of third parties. They are going through a stressful and extremely sad situation, and each of them has to process their own regrets, guilt, _what-ifs_ , so there’s no need to complicate things by involving other people, at least for now.

They’ll leave the lawyers for later, when it becomes necessary, if it ever does.

However, if they think they’ve already gotten through the worst, they aren’t prepared specifically for two days that are about to come: the day Robin moves out, and the day Robin and Regina tell their children about their separation .

\------

It appears there’s no convenient timing for their official separation with Christmas just around the corner and the New Year a week after, and that’s the sole reason they delay it after the New Year, although in practice they haven’t been a marriage for some months.

Robin and Regina will always remember the New Year of 2008 as the saddest of their lives. They stay home with Lila, Henry and Roland. They eat dinner, the five of them, they watch the fireworks when the clock strikes 12, but they don’t even toast. Robin and Regina hold each other, realizing it is the last holiday they share as a family, while their children enjoy the fireworks unaware of what their parents are going through.

One week later Robin and Regina tell their kids their dad is moving out, and, well, there’s no recipe for a conversation like that to work out, nor a magic way in which it will hurt less. It is painful, sad and overwhelming.

The kids are shocked, they begin to cry, and when they realize Robin is the one moving out they run to hug their father at the same time, they grab his legs, pull him by the arms, climb on him as if they were trying stopping him from leaving, even if he is not going anywhere that day.

There’s no valid reason for any of them to accept their parent’s break up. They argue with their parents, in their own innocent logic trying to convince them not to go on with their separation.

Robin and Regina know that their children need some logical explanation of the reasons behind their decision, and it’s very difficult and exhausting to offer any that they can comprehend, without giving away Regina’s discontent and Robin’s poor perception of his wife’s issues. So, the children have to settle with the _that’s between your father and I_ \- _we still love you very much_ \- _you still have your father and your mother_ - _your dad can come to this house whenever he wants_ speech.

After some time and useless cries and pouts finally, the kids realize that there’s nothing they can do to make their parents change their minds.

It helps somewhat that Robin doesn’t move out right away after their conversation with the children, and stays home. It actually does. The children are more relaxed knowing their dad is still around.

But, the time comes when Robin has to move out. It’s a chilly Saturday afternoon, and Regina has asked Emma to take the kids for the whole day, maybe have a sleepover with them, so that they don’t have to witness their father leaving. The fact that he’s leaving is already hard for the children, without having to witness Robin carrying his baggage with his personal stuff, placing it in the trunk and driving away. She won’t make their children watch that heartbreaking scene. She’ll deal with it alone; it’s the least she can do.

Robin closes the trunk after having placed his stuff there and turns to look at Regina who’s standing by his side and can’t help but ask one last time because, actually, he has nothing else to lose “Are you sure about this? We’ll always be in each other’s life because of the children, but there’s no guarantee that things won’t change between us or that maybe someone else could come into our lives.”

Regina takes her time to answer. Robin observes her hesitate and take away her gaze from him before she replies “That’s a risk I’ll have to take. I might be making my biggest mistake or maybe giving us a chance to get over this stronger than ever. Only time will tell.”

“And…” Robin continues pausing as if he wasn’t sure what to say next “…and …remind me why didn’t we decide that I just stay here with you and help you figure out all your issues?”

“Robin, we went already through this for weeks.I’m begging you for some space because I feel I can’t give you what you deserve. I need to feel like myself again first. I …I never meant to hurt you, Robin and I know I did and I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t …Regina, please. If someone needs to apologize it’s me. I’m sorry for not being by your side when you needed me. I never wanted you to feel miserable. You can’t imagine how sorry I am ...and, yeah, I know we already talked about this.”

Robin knows this is it and he can’t say goodbye to the woman he loves who he failed to make happy, so he opens the door of his car and, before he gets in, says “I won’t say goodbye, Regina.”

“I won’t say goodbye, either.”

With those words, Regina turns around and walks towards her house, but before she steps in she looks back and catches Robin staring at her; he has been watching her walk and it breaks her heart. With tears in her eyes she waves her hand ...and he does the same.

It’s over.

* * *

 

Eventually, Regina will achieve her professional fulfillment and the part inside her that for years felt empty, will be filled with professional recognition, success, a job, a life aside from her children and her house.

Over the years, Robin will discover he is a better father than he ever thought, and, ironically, it might be the one good thing his divorce brought him. He will become actively involved in raising his kids. He will enjoy homework, school meetings, preparing lunch boxes, driving the kids to school and picking them up later and from being a dad that worked too much, he becomes one present every moment of his children’s life.

Robin and Regina will be back together for a brief time in a secret affair that won’t end well, but that they manage to overcome and continue with their exceptionally good relationship as exes.

But, if Robin and Regina ever thought that dissolving their marriage and going through a divorce was the hardest thing they’d been through, they are completely mistaken. They will be pushed to their limits when they have to witness the other one in a relationship with someone else, and realize they are still in love with each other. They will realize this in their own time and way, but they’ll get there at some point in their lives.

And if their divorce is their biggest mistake, only time will tell.

* * *

 

**_THE END_ **


End file.
